Electric vehicle charging connector and electric vehicle charging assembly comprising same

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to an electric vehicle charging connector, in which a heat sink is provided to effectively cool the electric vehicle charging connector during charging of an electric vehicle, heat generated in an interface between an electric vehicle cable and a conductor of a connector connection unit is quickly absorbed by the heat sink, and a cooling fluid flows in the heat sink to cool an electric vehicle charging cable and is collected in an electric vehicle charger after cooling of the heat sink, and an electric vehicle charging assembly.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. An electric vehicle charging assembly comprising:
 an electric vehicle charging cable comprising: a grounding unit; at least one communication unit; a pair of power units each including a conductor and an insulating layer covering the conductor; a cooling unit configured to cool the conductor and included in the conductor of each of the power units, the cooling unit including a cooling tube and a cooling channel which is provided in the cooling tube and in which a cooling fluid flows; and a collection unit including a collection tube in which a return channel is provided to collect the cooling fluid supplied through the cooling unit; and 
 an electric vehicle charging connector comprising: a pair of power terminals each including a connecting part to be connected to a connector connection unit included in an electric vehicle and a conductor connection part into which the conductor of the electric vehicle charging cable is inserted to be connected to the connector connection unit; and a heat sink configured to absorb heat generated in the conductor connection part of each of the power terminals, and including therein a return channel for collecting the cooling fluid flowing through the cooling unit and supplying the cooling fluid to the collection unit. 
 
     
     
       2. The electric vehicle charging assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the heat sink comprises a heat absorbing part configured to absorb heat in the conductor connection part of each of the power terminals by a heat conduction method. 
     
     
       3. The electric vehicle charging assembly of  claim 2 , wherein the heat absorbing part has a shape corresponding to a shape of an outer circumferential surface of the conductor connection part of each of the power terminals. 
     
     
       4. The electric vehicle charging assembly of  claim 3 , further comprising a thermal pad between the outer circumferential surface of the conductor connection part and the heat absorbing part of the heat sink, the thermal pad being formed of a flexible material. 
     
     
       5. The electric vehicle charging assembly of  claim 1 , wherein one collection unit is provided to collect the cooling fluid supplied through a pair of cooling units. 
     
     
       6. The electric vehicle charging assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the electric vehicle charging connector further comprises a pair of connection pipes configured to connect the cooling channel in the cooling unit of the electric vehicle charging cable and the return channel of the heat sink. 
     
     
       7. The electric vehicle charging assembly of  claim 6 , wherein the collection unit is connected to the heat sink to be connected to the return channel of the heat sink. 
     
     
       8. The electric vehicle charging assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the heat sink is provided in a V shape to separate positions of the grounding unit and the pair of power units from each other. 
     
     
       9. The electric vehicle charging assembly of  claim 7 , wherein the pair of connection pipes are connected to opposite upper ends of the heat sink, and the collection unit is connected to a lower end of the heat sink. 
     
     
       10. The electric vehicle charging assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the conductor of the electric vehicle charging cable connected to the power terminal has a self-twist and helically wound structure in which multiple self-twisted conductors formed by twisting multiple strands in a twist pitch are helically wound in a certain winding pitch. 
     
     
       11. The electric vehicle charging assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising a temperature sensor configured to measure temperature near the pair of power terminals. 
     
     
       12. The electric vehicle charging assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the electric vehicle charging connector further comprises an interlock terminal. 
     
     
       13. An electric vehicle charging connector, which supplies power to charge an electric vehicle when detachably mounted into a connector connection unit of the electric vehicle while being mounted into an electric vehicle charging cable, the electric vehicle charging connector comprising:
 a pair of power terminals each including a connecting part to be connected to the connector connection unit and a connector connection part into which a conductor of the electric vehicle charging cable is inserted to be connected to the connector connection part; and 
 a heat sink configured to absorb heat generated in the conductor connection part of the power terminal, the heat sink including therein a return channel to which a cooling fluid is supplied from a cooling unit included in a conductor of a power unit of the electric vehicle charging cable and which is connected to a collection unit included in the electric vehicle charging cable to collect the cooling fluid. 
 
     
     
       14. The electric vehicle charging conductor of  claim 13 , wherein the heat sink comprises a heat absorbing part configured to absorb heat generated in the conductor connection part of the power terminal by heat conduction. 
     
     
       15. The electric vehicle charging conductor of  claim 14 , wherein the heat absorbing part has a shape corresponding to a shape of an outer circumferential surface of the conductor connection part of the power terminal. 
     
     
       16. The electric vehicle charging connector of  claim 15 , further comprising a thermal pad between the outer circumferential surface of the conductor connection part and the heat absorbing part of the heat sink, the thermal pad being formed of a flexible material. 
     
     
       17. The electric vehicle charging conductor of  claim 13 , further comprising a pair of connection pipes configured to connect a cooling channel in the cooling unit of the electric vehicle charging cable and the return channel in the heat sink,
 wherein the pair of connection pipes are connected to opposite upper ends of the heat sink, the collection unit is connected to a lower end of the heat sink, and the heat sink is provided in a V shape to separate positions of the grounding unit and the pair of power units from one another.